Products such as bottles, cans, and packaged food containers such as yogurt cups or tubs, and/or other products typically are packaged together in groups such as six-packs, twelve packs, twenty-four-packs, etc., for ease of shipment and purchase. Such product packages typically include sleeve-type cartons in which a carton blank is folded and glued to form an open-ended tube or sleeve into which the groups of products are inserted and the ends of the cartons sealed, and wrap-style cartons, which typically are applied to groups of products or articles placed on the flat carton blank which is then folded and locked about the group of products. In recent years, greater emphasis has been placed on attempting to reduce the size of product packaging, as even incremental reductions in the amount of packaging materials, such as paperboard, plastics, etc., can lead to significant reductions in the overall cost of the packaging of products.
In particular, efforts have been made to develop so-called “econo” style cartons that are of a reduced length or size, typically extending only partially along the outermost products in a group of products being packaged, such that a significant reduction in the materials required for such packages is realized. Reducing the size of the product package to substantially less than the overall length of the product grouping to be packaged has, however, previously required such packages be applied manually to the product groups, which slows production significantly. Alternatively, for use in automated packaging systems, such reduced size cartons generally have had to be pre-formed and pre-glued into a sleeve-type carton in which the product groups are later inserted. To facilitate the insertion of the product groups, however, it is necessary that such sleeve-type cartons be slightly oversized to enable the product groups to be easily inserted therein, after which product locking features further must be engaged so as to secure the products within the carton, generally requiring additional steps in the packaging operation for the products, thus slowing production rates.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a system and method for packaging products in groups that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.